New York governor to launch bill banning smartphones in schools

So just yesterday I'm reading here about the Google "Kids Watch" and how its benefit it that kids "don't need a phone anymore".

Now I see this and I can't help but think some Google lobbyist authored a bill (this absolutely does happen), handed it to a staffer in New York and now we're getting a bill that says parents have to buy their kid a Google Kids Watch (since you want your kids location but they cant have a "smart phone").

I didn't get why Google would make such a product and why in the world parents would ever trust Google with a kids product.. but seeing this article it all makes sense. I knew it had to be some kind of gambit but I didn't immediately see how. Now I think I do.

"Kathy Hochul pushes online child safety, telling social media companies: ‘You’re not going to profit off the mental health of children’"

Of course the governor of NY is basically wrapping herself in the American flag, putting her hand on a bible and protecting our children ...

Now with this, kiddos are gong to cut their teeth using the Android ecosystem. When it does come time to get them a smart phone, what kind do you think its going to be? Of course the kids watch is going to have some kind of ecosystem the parents will get deeper in with pic storage, calendars, location tracking etc.

First, buy a law that says kids cant have iPhones. Second, produce a watch that placates the parents/politicians thats not a smart phone. Third, sleep walk the kids and family into a new ecosystem. Fourth, in a few years as the kid matures you get to sell them Google Phones in the Google Ecosystem. Fifth, cast yourself as a concerned company with a genuine concern for the wellbeing of America's Children.

I don't know whether I want to go buy Alphabet shares or go outside and yell at the sky about what a corrupt world we live in.

$10 says some rudimentary social network product will soon follow. Who doesn't want a more fun way to play hide-and-go-seek? Gotta know who your friends are so we can invite them to the game etc.

> $10 says some rudimentary social network product will soon follow

Text: it worked just fine.

The only difference is that it didn't have UI and UX stickiness to glue people to screens.

Sometimes simpler is better.

I was just thinking that a kids watch was an odd product choice. But it all makes sense now. Big League Chew, anyone?

I think the focus on age is perhaps outsized especially in that child protection act described in the article.

Forcing social media companies to collect a bunch of personal info for age verification is bad for privacy and doesn’t solve the problem of companies being legally allowed to build dopamine casinos.

I like smartphone bans for school, though.

The bill wont strictly "mandate buying a Google Kids Watch" but it will stipulate a ban on smart phones (iPhones being the dominant device) in schools. The Google Kiddie Crack watch is $200, the Apple Watch can't compete at that price point. Dumb Phones (flip phone) wont offer location tracking the parents can monitor.

What option is a parent to choose I wonder? This product seems suspiciously designed for a very specific set of conditions to emerge.

"This whole essay you wrote is taking that conclusion jump and rolling straight into the worst case scenario."

You call it a "conclusion jump", I call it a Rational Explanation.